Equipment for use in laying down glass fiber blanket



y 1959 R. E. BELFIELD ETAL 3,444,028

EQUIPMENT FOR USE IN LAYING DOWN GLASS FIBER BLANKET Original FiledMarch 28, 1962 Sheet of 4 INVENTORS W661? BY mm C. 4/

y 1969 R. a. BELFIELD ETAL 3,444,028

EQUIPMENT FOR USE IN LAYING DOWN GLASS FIBER BLANKET Original FiledMarch 28. 1962 Sheet 2 of 4 O INVENTORS We. 6 M4 A T TORNEY$ y 1959 R.E. BELFIELD ETAL 3,444,028

EQUIPMENT FOR USE IN LAYING DOWN GLASS FIBER BLANKET Sheet 3 OriginalFiled March 28, 1962 wv NTQRS BY m a $i g ATTORNEYQ May 13, 1969 RBELFlELD EI'AL 3,444,028

EQUIPMENT FpR USE IN LAYING DOWN GLASS FIBER BLANKET Sheet OriginalFiled March 28, 1962 INVENTORS 3 u f a g r! BY ag; c.

ATTORNEYS United tates Patent US. Cl. 156-371 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Conveyor for use in collecting glass fibers to which a heathardenable liquid resin binder has been applied. An endless conveyor iscomprised of pivotally interconnected flights, each formed of aplurality of supporting bars arranged in spaced apart, side-by-siderelationship. The spaces between the bars provide open channelsextending throughout the conveyor loop and through which gases can pass.One end of each bar is beveled and the axes of pivotal interconnectionbetween adjacent flights lie substantially in the plane of the fibersupporting surfaces of the bars, so that the fiber supporting surface isuninterrupted in the direction of conveyor travel. Toothed elementsproject into the open channels in the return run of the conveyor inorder to dislodge any accummulations of resin and fiber glass from theflights.

The present application continues my prior application Ser. No. 183,301,filed Mar. 28, 1962, now abandoned.

This invention relates to the production of glass fiber products and isespecially concerned with equipment for use in laying down a melt orblanket of glass fibers, particularly where a heat hardenable liquidresin binder has been applied to the fibers.

In an operation of the kind here involved, the glass fibers are producedby attenuation of streams of molten glass under the influence of a hotgaseous blast, and the attenuated fibers are deposited or laid down upona moving surface of a conveyor. In a typical operation of this kind aliquid binder, for instance a heat settable liquid resin is sprayed uponthe fibers before they are laid down upon the conveyor, and subsequentto the laydown the blanket developed on the conveyor is transported toan oven in which it is subjected to heat so as to set the adhesive andthereby bond the fibers together and consolidate the formed blanket.

Although operations of this general kind have been in use, considerabledifficulty has been encountered in connection with the conveyorarrangement on which the blanket is laid down.

It is advantageous that such conveyors be provided with aperturestherethrough so that the attenuating gases may pass through the conveyorwhile depositing the fibers on the supporting surface of the conveyor,this action sometimes being enhanced by the provision of suction meansbehind the area of the conveyor on which the blanket is laid down. Itmay also be mentioned that a conveyor of this type is advantageouslymade of metal parts linked or pivoted to each other in a closed circuit,in a typical case the conveyor having two generally horizontal runs, onthe upper of which the fiber blanket is laid down.

Apertured or foraminous conveyors used in the general manner describedabove are subject to serious clogging tendencies due to the accumulationof glass and glass fibers in the apertures of the conveyor, this problembeing aggravated by the presence of a heat settable binder on the fiberswhich adheres and tends to accumulate and solidify on the conveyor.

In consequence of such clogging, the flow of gases through the aperturesof the conveyor is impaired and this tends to produce a fiber blanket ofnonuniform thickness. The clogging of the apertures and the adherence ofexcessive quantities of glass and/or binder to the conveyor will attimes damage the conveyor structure or its drive mechanism. In view ofvarious of the difficulties encountered, it has heretofore beennecessary to stop the conveyor and subject it to a cleaning operation.This has been required at relatively frequent intervals therebyimpairing the desired continuous operation of the equipment, which isparticularly important in the production of products made from glass,and especially when employing glass fiber attenuation means which iscumbersome and troublesome to repeatedly start and stop.

With all of the foregoing in mind the present invention has as its majorobjective the provision of conveyor equipment adapted for the laydown ofglass fiber blankets, which equipment is adapted for long continued usewithout shutdown.

More specifically, the invention contemplates conveyor equipment adaptedfor use in the laydown of fiber blankets in which means are provided forautomatically and continuously cleaning the conveyor while the equipmentis in use.

How the foregoing and other objects and advantages are attained willappear more fully from the following description referring to theaccompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of theinvention and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic elevational view of a glass fiberproducing equipment arranged to lay down a blanket of fibers upon aconveyor constructed and operating in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged elevational view of the conveyor equipment shownin FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a further enlarged transverse sectional view of a portion ofthe lower run of the conveyor equipment shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, thisview being taken as indicated by the line 33 on FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken generally as indicated by the line 4-4 onFIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary isometric view illustrating the relativearrangement of certain elements of the conveyor and certain of thecleaning elements employed; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary elevational view of a portion of the conveyoras the conveyor is moving from the upper horizontal run into a curvedrun at one end of the conveyor.

Referring first to FIGURE 1, there is diagrammatically indicated at 7 aportion of a glass furnace having a forehearth 8 from which streams ofmolten glass 9 are delivered into spinners or rotors 10 adapted torotate about vertical axes and having a multiplicity of apertures ororifices through which fine streams of glass are discharged radially.Associated with each spinner 10 is a :gas blast mechanism 11 indicatedin outline, this gas blast mechanism having an annular discharge orificeadjacent the periphery of the spinner and directed downwardly, so that acylindrical curtain of fibers is formed by attenuation of the streams ofglass issuing from the spinner. Such cylindrical curtains are indicatedat 12 in FIGURE 1 and these are shown as descending downwardly into theopen top of a forming hood 13 which overlies the conveyor mechanism tobe described more fully herebelow. In the downward path of the glassfibers a liquid heat settable binder is applied to the fibers,advantageously by means of spray nozzles directed inwardly from thesupply rings 14. The hood 13 is in the nature of a box having four sidewalls but being open at both top and bottom, the lower opening beingpresented close to the upper surface of the conveyor generally indicatedat C in FIGURE 1 and shown in greater detail in other figures to bedescribed. In accordance with the foregoing technique a blanket of glassfibers indicated at G is laid upon the top run of the conveyor and iscarried away in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIGURE 1. At theexit side of the hood 13, a sealing roll 15 may be employed, as an aidto maintaining the blanket in desired uniform condition as it leaves thearea under the hood 13. A secondary conveyor 16 may be utilized to carrythe formed blanket away from the conveyor C to a point for furthertreatment or use, for instance into an oven for heating the blanket andthus curing the binder and thereby consolidating the fibers of theblanket.

Referring now more particularly to FIGURES 2 to 6 inclusive, thearrangement of the conveyor is as follows:

A sprocket shaft 17 is provided toward one end of the conveyor, thisshaft carrying a pair of sprockets 18, one toward each end of the shaft,i.e., one toward each side of the conveyor. The shaft 17 is adapted tobe driven by a sprocket 19 cooperating with a chain 20 which receives dpower from a suitable motor, desirably through a gear reduction unit 21.Toward the opposite end of the equipment a shaft 22 is provided and thisshaft carries a pair of spaced sprockets 23 one toward each side of theconveyor, and the shaft 22 is desirably provided with adjustable-bearingblocks such as indicated at 24 movable in a slotted support 25 toprovide for slack takeup and compensation for wear of the conveyorelements.

The conveyor itself includes pairs of links 26 pivotally connected intwo series, one paired series being located at each side of the conveyorand the interconnection pivots which are indicated at 27 carryingrollers 28 which are adapted to be engaged by the teeth on both thedriving and idling sprockets 18 and 23 and which are further adapted toride upon tracks 29 located at the edges of the upper run of theconveyor and still further upon tracks 30 located along the edges of thelower run of the conveyor. These tracks may conveniently comprise simpleangle pieces such as indicated in section in FIGURE 3.

The pairs of links 26 at each side of the conveyor are interconnected bytransverse structural members 31, there being a pair of these membersfor the paired links at each side, the members 31 having interconnectingcross braces 32 (see particularly FIGURES 4 and 5). The cross braces inturn are fastened by brackets or plates 33 which are bolted or otherwisesecured to the conveyor or chain links as indicated at 34 in FIGURES 3,4 and 6.

Each of the transverse members 31 (see particularly FIGURES 4 and 5)serves to carry a notched support 35 to whicha series of bars 36 arewelded, in the manner shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5.

In accordance with the fore-going, pivotally interconnected conveyorflights are provided, each flight being built or made up of the partsincluding pairs of conveyor links 26 at opposite sides of the conveyor,transverse elements 31 with their interconnecting parts 32, thesupporting members 35 and the bars 36. The bars 36 provide the fibersupporting surface of the conveyor and these bars, as clearly seen inFIGURES 3 and 5, are closely spaced transversely of the conveyor. Thepairs are further arranged in alignment with each other in series aroundthe conveyor loop, so that the spaces between adjacent series tion box37 is arranged between the upper and lower runs of the conveyor,preferably having an opening adjacent the underside of the upper run andhaving one or more off-takes 38 at the side of the conveyor throughwhich the suction box 37 may be connected with a vacuum system.

During operation of the equipment, as described above, the fiber blanketG is laid down upon the upper surface of the upper run of the conveyorbars 36 and glass fibers and binder tend to accumulate in the spacesbetween the bars. However, in accordance with the present inventionprovision is made in a region of the conveyor spaced from the regionwhere the blanket is laid down to automatically and continuously cleanout the spaces between the bars 36. For this purpose groups of scraperblades or knives such as indicated at 39 are employed. These are mountedin groups by means of supporting bars 40, removable fastening plates 41being provided in order to facilitate replacement of the scrapers.

As seen in various of the figures, the scrapers 39 project upwardlyentirely through the spaces between the adjacent bars 36, the notches inthe support members 35 providing the necessary clearance for this.Advantageously the scrapers 39 are individually of width just slightlyless than the spacing between adjacent bars 36, so as to provide foreffective clean-out of the spaces or channels between the bars aroundthe loop of the conveyor.

The supporting bars 40 for the scraper blades are pivotally carried by ashaft 42 having spaced bearing supports 43, brackets 44 serving to mountthe bars 40 on the shaft 42. Also secured to the shaft 42 are arms 45,preferably one at each side of the equipment and each carrying a weightacting about the axis of shaft 42 to maintain the scraper blades 39 intheir upper or scraping position in which they are interleaved orinterdigitated with the conveyor bars 36.

With the scrapers 39 mounted for displacement movement about the axis ofthe shaft 42 and with the conveyor moving in the direction as indicatedin various of the figures, in the event that the scraper bars encountersome obstruction which is unusually difficult to remove, the scrapersare automatically displaced from their normal scraping position in orderto pass such an obstruction and in that way avoid breakage either of thescrapers or of the conveyor structure.

The height at which the scrapers are positioned under the influence ofthe weights 46 may be regulated by the vertically adjustable stops 47.In addition the effect of the weight on the scrapers may also beregulated by shifting the weights 46 along the arms 45, fastening studssuch as shown at 48 being provided in order to secure the weights in anyadjusted position.

Attention is further called to the fact that the axis of the link pivots27 lie in the plane of the supporting surfaces of the conveyor bars 36.Because of this (see FIGURE 6) as the conveyor bars progress from thehorizontal top run of the conveyor into the curved path around thedriving sprocket, no appreciable opening or space is developed betweenthe adjacent ends of the conveyor bars of adjacent flights of theconveyor. At least one end of the conveyor bars is preferably cut awayat an incline as indicated in FIGURES 5 and 6 at 49 in order toaccommodate relative angling of the bars as they move in the curved patharound either the driving or the idling sprockets. This feature isadvantageous as it avoids opening up of additional spaces or cavitiesbetween adjacent ends of the supporting bars of the conveyor which mighthave a tendency to accept glass, binder or other foreign material andcause difficulty when the flights again pass from a curved run back intoa straight run of the conveyor.

The arrangement of the scraper blades in the lower run of the conveyoris particularly advantageous because of the fact that all of thematerials which are dislodged readily fall by gravity away from theconveyor. The scraper blades are highly effective in continuouslycleaning the conveyor, so that shutdowns are virtually eliminated. Inaddition the arrangement provides for maintenance of a much higherdegree of uniformity of the fiber blanket produced, because the gas flowarea through the blanket supporting surface remains uniformly open.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for making a binder impregnated glass fiber blanketcomprising in combination with a fiber spinning device having a gaseousblast fiber-attenuation means adapted to deliver a stream of fibersdownwardly and with means for impregnating the fibers with a liquid heatsettable binder, a conveyor for receiving the stream of fibers laid downby said blast and for supporting the spun and impregnated fibers in theform of a blanket, the conveyor comprising an endless loop ofinterconnected conveyor flights or links each of which comprises aplurality of blanket supporting elements elongated in the direction ofmovement of the conveyor and arranged in spaced sideby-side relationwith the spaces between the elements of the several flights aligned witheach other to provide open channels extended throughout the conveyorloop, the conveyor loop having an upper run on the upper side of whichthe fiber blanket is laid down and a lower or return run, and the spacesbetween the elements in the upper run providing communication throughthat run to the region between the upper and lower runs and thereby forpassage of gas of said blast through the upper run of the conveyor whiledepositing the impregnated fibers on the supporting elements, andtoothed elements below the lower run of the conveyor projecting upwardlyinto said open channels, the toothed elements being of width notappreciably less than that of the spaces between the blanket sup portingelements and being mounted and positioned to engage and dislodge glassand binder from said open channels including the spaces between theblanket supporting elements.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the toothed elements comprisestationary blades.

3. Apparatus for making a binder impregnated glass fiber blanketcomprising in combination with a fiber spinning device having a gaseousblast fiber-attenuation means adapted to deliver fibers downwardly andwith means for impregnating the stream of fibers with a liquid heatsettable binder, a conveyor for receiving the stream of fibers laid downby said blast and for supporting the spun and impregnated fibers in theform of a blanket, the conveyor comprising an endless loop ofinterconnected conveyor flights or links each of which comprises aplurality of blanket supporting elements elongated in the direction ofmovement of the conveyor and arranged in spaced side-by-side relationwith the spaces between the elements of the several flights aligned witheach other to provide open channels extended throughout the conveyorloop, the conveyor loop having an upper run on the upper side of whichthe fiber blanket is laid down and a lower or return run, and the spacesbetween the elements in the upper run providing communication throughthat run to the region between the upper and lower runs and thereby forpassage of gas of said blast through the upper run of the conveyor whiledepositing the impregnated fibers on the supporting elements, andtoothed elements arranged outside of the conveyor loop in a regionbeyond that in which the fibers are laid down and projecting-into saidopen channels, the toothed elements being mounted and positioned toengage and dislodge glass and binder from said open channels includingthe spaces between the blanket supporting elements.

4. Apparatus for making a glass fiber blanket comprising in combinationwith a fiber spinning device having a gaseous blast fiber-attenuationmeans adapted to establish a stream of fibers, a conveyor for receivingthe stream of fibers established by said blast and providing for buildupof the fibers in the form of a blanket, the conveyor comprising anendless loop of interconnected conveyor flights or links each of whichcomprises a plurality of blanket supporting elements elongated in thedirection of movement of the. conveyor and arranged in spacedside-by-side relation with the spaces between the elements of theseveral flights aligned with each other to provide open channelsextended throughout the conveyor loop, the conveyor loop having a firstrun positioned to receive the stream of fibers during buildup of theblanket and a second or return run, and the spaces between the elementsin the first run providing communication through that run to the regionbetween said runs and thereby for passage of gas of said blast throughthe first run of the conveyor while depositing the impregnated fibers onthe supporting elements, and toothed elements positioned at the outsideof the second run of the conveyor projecting inwardly intosaid openchannels, the toothed elements being of width not appreciably less thanthat of the spaces between the blanket supporting elements and beingmounted and positioned to engage and dislodge foreign matter from saidopen channels including the spaces betwen the blanket supportingelements.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 and further including a gas chamberbetween the runs of the conveyor having an inlet opening for receivinggas passing through the spaces between the blanket supporting elementsin the region where the blanket is built up and having an outlet forconducting the gas away from the conveyor.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 and further including suction meansfor assisting passage of gas through the spaces betwen the blanketsupporting elements in the region of the upper run of the conveyor wherethe blanket is built up.

7. Apparatus for making a glass fiber blanket comprising in combinationwith a fiber spinning device having a gaseous blast fiber-attenuationmeans adapted to establish a stream of fibers, a conveyor for receivingthe stream of fibers established by said blast and providing for buildupof the fibers in the form of a blanket the conveyor comprising anendleses loop of pivotally interconnected conveyor flights or links eachof which comprises a plurality of blanket supporting elements elongatedin the direction of movement of the conveyor and arranged in spacedside-by-side relation with the spaces between the elements of theseveral flights aligned with each other to provide open channelsextended throughout the conveyor loop, the conveyor loop having a firstrun positioned to receive the stream of fibers during buildup of theblanket and a second or return run with interconnecting curved portionsbetween the first and second runs, the axes of the pivotalinterconnections between the conveyor links lying substantially in theplane of the fiber supporting surfaces of said supporting elements andin positions substantially at the adjacent ends of the elements of theseveral conveyor links to thereby cause said ends of the supportingelements to remain adjacent each other as they pivot relative to eachother when passing through said curved portions of the conveyor loop,and the spaces between the elements in the first run providingcommunication through that run to the region between the runs andthereby for passage of gas of said blast through the first run of theconveyor while depositing the impregnated fibers on the supportingelements, and toothed elements projecting into said open channels todislodge foreign matter therefrom.

8. Apparatus for making a glass fiber blanket comprising in combinationwith a fiber spinning device having a gaseous blast fiber-attenuationmeans adapted to establish a stream of fibers, a conveyor for receivingthe stream of fibers established by said blast and providing buildup ofthe fibers in the form of a blanket, the conveyor comprising an endlessloop of interconnected conveyor flights or links each of which comprisesa plurality of blanket supporting elements elongated in the direction ofmovement of the conveyor and arranged in spaced side-by-side relationwith the spaces between the elements of the several flights aligned witheach other to provide open channels extended throughout the conveyorloop, the conveyor loop having a first run positioned to receive thestream of fibers during buildup of the blanket and a second or returnrun, and the spaces between the elements in the upper run providingcommunication through that run to the region between said runs andthereby for passage of gas of said blast through the first run of theconveyor while depositing the impregnated fibers on the supportingelements, toothed elements arranged outside of the conveyor loop in aregion beyond that in which the fibers are laid down and projecting intosaid open channels to dislodge foreign matter therefrom, and meansmounting the toothed elements for yielding displacement out of saidchannels under the influence of the foreign matter difiicult todislodge.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 in which the toothed elements arepivotally mounted for displacement out of said channels, the equipmentfurther including yielding means acting about the pivot axis to retainthe toothed elements in said open channels.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 in which toothed elements arepivotally mounted about a horizontal pivot axis and in which theyielding means comprises a weight connected with the toothed elementsand offset from the pivot axis to act by gravity to retain the toothedelements in said open channels.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,146,282 7/1915 Rogers 1982292,060,491 11/1936 'Dunlop 198229 2,681,137 6/1954 Davis 198230 3,073,430l/1963 Quinn 198229 3,144,376 8/1964 Pluniberg et al. 156-374 EARL M.BERGERT, Primary Examiner.

W. E. HOAG, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.

